Taylor Freeman hit two timely 3-point shots and Emily MacDonnell knocked down the go-ahead trey, but it was a non-statistical aspect that was the deciding factor in Moravian's 70-66 victory Tuesday night over neighbor DeSales.

"We were able to play with more enthusiasm, more passion," Greyhounds coach Mary Beth Spirk said. "I thought we picked it up on defense."

Bulldogs coach Fred Richter was watching the same game, one in which his club led by nine points with 13 minutes left at Johnston Hall.

"They played tougher than we did from that point on," Richter said. "They wanted it more than we did."

MacDonnell and Freeman, two of Moravian's secondary scorers, combined for 23 points to help Alexis Wright and Northampton High grad Alesha Marcks, who both sat for a time in the second half with foul trouble.

Still, Wright overcame nerves to register her 1,000th career point on a bank shot with 5 minutes, 45 seconds left in the midst of a 17-6 Moravian run. The senior who missed 20 games last season with a knee injury scored 17 points.

Marcks also netted 17 points, including an acrobatic 3-point play with 1:02 left to give Moravian (4-2) a two-possession cushion.

"Different kids stepped up when we needed them to," Spirk said. "I told them during a timeout that there was so much pressure on Alexis and she was struggling, somebody else had to score."

Even though it was Moravian's fifth game in eight days, it was DeSales (3-2) that looked worn out in the latter stages of the second half.

There was little movement offensively and breakdowns defensively, which cost the Bulldogs.

"We're better than that, I hope," Richter said. "We have some maturing to get to that point."

Northampton High product Leandra Sterner had 20 points to lead the Bulldogs, who turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 50-41 lead on Kaitlin Kelly's basket off a Sterner feed with 13:09 left.

Freeman's first key trey got the Greyhounds within 54-52 with 7:32 showing. Her corner trey tied it at 60 with 3:06 left. MacDonnell's corner 3-pointer off an inbounds pass gave Moravian the lead for good.

It is this kind of back-and-forth struggle for momentum that Spirk is expecting for much of this season with so many new faces and those with expanded responsibilities.

"It's not going to be a breeze," she said. "We're going to have to struggle every game, work every game, grind it out like we did tonight.

"We're 4-2 and I'm ecstatic."

Richter, meanwhile, needs his youthful Bulldogs to grow up with respect to their mental aspect of the game as much as the physical part.

"My two assistants are upset with the mentality that this [effort] is enough instead of being butt-kickers," he said. "We're not getting that through to [the players]. They have to fight through it, be tougher.

"But they look at us [coaches] like we have three heads."

MEN: DeSales 79, Moravian 57

The snowstorm came a day early for the host Greyhounds, who shot 26.9 percent from the floor (17.9 percent from 3-point range) and missed 12 of 22 free throws.

Those poor numbers came as a result of bad shots and having that transition to the defensive end.

"We were down 18-10 with about 10 minutes left in the first half," coach Jim Walker said. "We were hanging around because we were playing defense.

"But then we got frustrated and took more bad shots, worse than earlier, and weren't defending."

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs shared the ball and brought energy consistently to the defensive end.

Cody Deal scored a career-high 24 points, and DeSales (3-1) led by as many as 36 in the second half.

"That was the best we've played, by far, this year," coach Scott Coval said. "We did share the ball and I thought we played really good defense.

"They missed some shots they normally make and it snowballed."

Brian Laird scored 13 points off the bench as part of a second unit that played equally well together for DeSales.

Ryan Callahan had six points and nine rebounds in his third game as he works his way into shape after an injury.

"They brought a ton of energy off the bench and really played well," Coval said. "When the starters came back in the game [in the first half], that's when the game changed because we were fresh."

Travis Bryan had seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Bulldogs.

The Greyhounds starters made just 10 of 47 shots.

"Being a good offensive team, we can't take any shot we want," Walker said. "We need to get good shots.

"I hope the seniors learn that easier than the underclassmen, but they got frustrated too."